July maintained a close above a 50% retrace point. Foreign Agricultural Service post boosted its estimate of Bangladesh 2017-18 cotton imports.

Cotton futures settled mixed Tuesday, with most-active July finishing a session of choppy price action little changed.

July eased a point to settle at 78.16 cents, in the upper half of its 108-point range from up 38 points at 78.55 to down 70 points at 77.47 cents. It touched the high in the first minutes of overnight trading, hit the low in early morning and joggled back and forth into the close.

Soon-to-mature May, with three trading sessions now left until first notice day, settled down 21 points at 76.28 cents, trading within a 121-point range from 77.49 to 76.28 cents. December finished up 17 points to 74.41 cents, just off the high of its 68-point range from 73.79 to 74.47 cents and its highest settlement since March 28.

July maintained for a second session a close above a 50% retracement (77.81) of the six-week range from the contract high of 80.27 on March 6 to the low of 75.35 on April 10.

Volume increased to an estimated 48,574 lots from 35,787 lots the prior session when spreads accounted for 19,830 lots or 55%, EFP 582 lots and EFS 150 lots. Options volume declined to 3,459 lots (1,311 calls and 2,148 puts) from 5,434 lots (3,000 calls and 2,434 puts).

On the international scene, a U.S. agricultural attach report projects BangladeshΆs 2017-18 imports at 6.2 million bales, up from the postΆs 2016-17 estimate of 6 million bales, on strong demand for diversified garments and trade expansion with new business partners.

The postΆs estimate is even with USDAΆs latest forecast for this season, which was steady with last season and down from the March projection of 6.4 million bales. The USDAΆs first detailed 2017-18 supply-demand forecasts will be released on May 10.

Bangladesh, the worldΆs largest cotton importer, has 424 spinning mills, 794 textile weaving mills, 241 dyeing and finishing mills and 6,500 registered and more than 5090 unregistered garment and textile factories, the Foreign Agricultural Service report said.

More than 4,300 members of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association employ some 4 million workers, of which about 80% are women, the report added.

With China moving toward high-tech industries and away from ready-made garments, international buyers are seeking other suppliers, which offer opportunities for Bangladesh to increase apparel exports, the Dhaka post reported.

Bangladesh is reported to have identified 11 emerging countries as new potential markets for $1 billion worth of garments. Exports to non-traditional or developing markets reportedly are part of a larger strategy to reach an export target of $50 billion by 2021.

Nearly 80% of the garments made in Bangladesh are from cotton, with the rest made from viscose, polyester and other materials. Bangladesh ranks as the ninth largest importer of U.S. cotton this season on purchases of 578,000 bales thus far.

Futures open interest dipped 335 lots Monday to 241,777, with MayΆs down 7,171 lots to 24,345, JulyΆs up 5,750 lots to 116,812 and DecemberΆs up 911 lots to 88,984. Cert stocks declined 9,026 bales to 295,436. Awaiting review were 1,045 bales at Galveston.